M&I Materials Supplies Wolfmet Weights For BAE Hawk Aircraft
16/09/2005
M&I Materials Ltd, based in Manchester, UK, has won a further order from BAE Systems to supply parts for the BAE Hawk 100 Series aircraft. M&I supply rudder mass balances, auxiliary rudder weights and tray weights that are manufactured from Wolfmet tungsten alloys.
The Hawk rudders are assembled, together with the mass balance and auxiliary weights, by Saab in Sweden and are finally fitted during the assembly of the aircraft at BAE Systems’ Brough factory in East Yorkshire. Tray weights are required to adjust each aircraft’s centre of gravity to the correct position and are fitted in the tail pipe of the aircraft upon final installation and prior to the engine ground run.
The high density of Wolfmet alloys (almost 60% denser than lead, which has traditionally been used as a rudder mass balance), coupled with good mechanical properties and machinability, allows designers to make significant reductions in the physical size of components. For a given moment about a pivot, Wolfmet alloys therefore allow a smaller balance weight to be sited further from the pivot point. To prevent flutter (unwanted and uncontrolled movement that can lead to instability) of an aircraft’s rudder at high speeds, small mass balances are used to move the control surface centre of gravity. Additionally, by using mass balances, the effort required by a pilot to control the rudder is reduced.
Owing to the very high melting point of tungsten (in excess of 3000 °C), Wolfmet alloys cannot be manufactured by traditional casting methods. To overcome this, Wolfmet alloys are manufactured by powder metallurgy techniques. One of the advantages of manufacturing by powder metallurgy methods is that small batch quantities, even single pieces, can be achieved without the severe cost penalties associated with other production methods.
Wolfmet materials are produced in accordance with an ISO 9002 approved QA system, including Aerospace Sector Certificate Scheme TS 157-1993. They also meet the United States military MIL-T-21014 specification. M&I Materials also has AS 9100 accreditation.
M&I Materials Ltd has a state-of-the-art Wolfmet production facility at Trafford Park, Manchester, with an international order book in aerospace, automotive, Formula One, medical and engineering applications. M&I Materials Ltd performs the whole production process, from powder blending through to machining, to achieve unrivalled quality and value in the finished component.
